Football

Keegan

Column: QB switch affects RB James Sims, too

Kansas running back James Sims is upended by the Oklahoma State defense during the second quarter on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012 at Memorial Stadium.

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KU v. Oklahoma State football

Images from Saturday's game at Memorial Stadium.

The lights were turned up at a factory in 1924, and productivity increased. After a while, the lights were dimmed, and productivity increased again. It’s known as the Hawthorne effect.

Part of what happened when Charlie Weis replaced immobile senior quarterback Dayne Crist with the more elusive red-shirt freshman Michael Cummings in the third quarter of Saturday’s lightning-interrupted football game could be attributed to the way the quarterbacks handle pressure from the defense.

And part of it could be traced to the Hawthorne effect. This was a team in desperate need of a change at quarterback. The second-half-collapse script had grown so tired, and Crist was such a central figure in it that removing him was as much what energized the Kansas University football team as how well the inexperienced replacement did in his place.

Junior running back James Sims never mails in a play, but the difference in him when the change came was noticeable. He looked at once quicker and more patient.

Nobody on the field played better in the 20-14 loss to Oklahoma State than Sims after the change came.

He did an extraordinary job of stopping blitzes with sound blocks all game and caught three passes for 42 yards, including a 28-yard gain. It was how he ran the football that seemed to get a boost. That and how the guys blocking for him seemed to blow open bigger holes.

Before the quarterback switch, Sims gained 45 yards on 16 carries, a 2.8 average. With Cummings at QB, Sims carried it 11 times for 93 yards, an 8.5 average.

After listening to Sims talk about the impact of Cummings entering the game, it’s obvious more than just the Hawthorne effect was at play.

“It does help me out,” Sims said. “Michael Cummings is a running-throwing quarterback, which means there are less people in the box because they have to worry about him running the ball as well. ... He’s a dual-threat. You can’t just key on the running back all the time. You have to key on him as well.”

Kansas coach Charlie Weis didn’t say who will get the start Saturday in Norman, Okla., and, really, how would it benefit him to say anything but that it will be a game-time decision? Keep Oklahoma guessing, although it’s not tough to be on the right side of the guess. Going back to Crist after the way the team rallied would be painting the Cummings effect as a fluke. Plus, Crist didn’t give his coach at two schools any reason to want to return to Crist the team that didn’t respond to him.

The Sooners will be more ready for Cummings than Oklahoma State was because it’s easier to see coming. They’ll have a dual-threat game plan ready replete with wrinkles designed at rattling a young quarterback. Seeing how Cummings responds to all that makes this a far more compelling team than most saddled with a 1-5 record.

Cummings showed he can put a lot of mustard on the ball, and now we’ll find out if he can take something off it and throw a change-up when it’s the right pitch.

“Mike Cummings has a cannon,” Sims said. “He’s a little guy, but he can throw it. And he throws heat on it, too. I tell him all the time in practice, ‘Don’t drill the swing pass to me because it hurts my fingers.’”

To have its best shot at staging an upset that would lead “SportsCenter,” Kansas will need Tony Pierson (sore left elbow) returning to come out of the backfield catching passes to give the defense one more reason not to put all the focus on Sims.

KU’s Sims never will be mistaken for former Oklahoma great Billy Sims, but he definitely outplayed OSU’s Joseph Randle, who came into the game with a Big 12-best 133.5 rushing yards per game on 7.1 yards per carry and was held to 2.8 yards an attempt.

Sims has rushed for 100 yards or more in seven of 27 college games, and there is no aspect of a running back’s job that he doesn’t perform well.

“He had a good day at the office. I mean, he really did,” Weis said. “He had a full day, and he played tough, and he played physical. The best part about it, as sore as he should be, he feels worse emotionally than physically, which that’s a good thing.

“Look it, they all hurt, but this is the first time we’ve gone out in the fourth quarter and played like a team that wants to win. First time. First time since I’ve been here. If you ask anyone who was the better team in the fourth quarter, I would be surprised if anyone would pick them.”

And if you asked anyone who was the best player in the fourth quarter, as good as safety Lubbock Smith was, the correct answer would be Sims, whose greatest quality as a runner is that he knows how to rush the ball without rushing.

“I’m more patient,” Sims said. “I’m not in a hurry to get to anywhere, just letting my blocks develop and going from there. Sometimes it’s hard because it’s so tempting to go here or go there. My coach tells me great running backs are patient, and they wait for blocks to develop.”

And the more a quarterback can do to grab the attention of the defense, the more the running back’s patience gets rewarded.

Comments

I would absolutely love to see Cummings run a triple option zone read with Sims/Cox and Pierson. That is a combination that would take a lot of pressure off of the OLine and set up play action very nicely. Not sure how effective it'll be against OU because OU is probably the second best team in the Big 12 this year. That combination should be pretty effective against just about everyone else on the schedule except for Texas Tech who I think showed their defensive ranking wasn't a fluke with that performance against WVU.

All of this without actually asking James Sims what affect it had on him? He never stopped playing hard. This is an irresponsible journalist trying to save face now. He knows none of this is backed with factual evidence.

Let Matt Tait write a story like this. He has the integrity to ask James Sims personally. Apparently the others are just throwing more than half of the KU fan base under the bus.

Tom Keegan, it needs to be made clear that this is your opinion, and that's all it is. The only guy I trust at KUsports.com is Matt Tait. He is the hardest working guy on the staff and he is the one that goes out and gets the answers. I'm really disappointed.

James Sims did this two years ago against Colorado, too. Tom, do you expect the memories of the fans to be this short?

You can answer it directly on here if you'd like. Oklahoma State had no idea of what Cummings capabilities were. They had no film. They were not prepared for him. This is just unethical journalism all around. Sims can say what he wants, but he's always played hard. What was the effect in 2010 when KU was down by 28 going into the 4th quarter? Why was Sims successful in that quarter? HEART!

It must also be noted that Tom Keegan chose KU to lose by a score of 55-17.

By the way, I know. I saw the credit for the photo first which was taken by Nick Krug, then I edited it. Tom wrote a terrible article that isn't something he actually believes. He picked Kansas to lose by 38. He doesn't believe anything he wrote up there and this is a column, which is supposed to be Keegan's opinion.

I dislike Keegan's writing as much as the next guy, but come on man, you're being a little ridiculous. There are plenty of quotations above from James Sims talking about the effect Cummings had on him. This is actually a good article.

HawkOverseas, I agree because of this quote: “It does help me out,” Sims said. “Michael Cummings is a running-throwing quarterback, which means there are less people in the box because they have to worry about him running the ball as well. ... He’s a dual-threat. You can’t just key on the running back all the time. You have to key on him as well.”

What I wonder is why the coaching staff didn't know this several weeks ago and make the adjustment.

However, if you look at scores with the exception of the K-State game KU's showings have been respectable while losing, albeit to teams we hoped they would beat. I still say the problem is Weiss hasn't had a chance to do a good job recruiting. When he has, he may be quicker to pick up obvious problems in his players. I too thought getting Crist was good for KU. I was wrong, just like Coach Weiss. I really think that with this bunch of coaches we are on our way to much better seasons. KU wont be the laughing stock of the Big 12 in football in a few more years.

Oklahoma despite losing to K-State may be the best team in the league. They administered a good old fashion arse kicking to UT yesterday. So did Texas Tech in drubbing West Virginia.

It isn't just that, Weis has had only 6 games to install a completely new system on both sides of the ball. With that said, KU is starting to execute plays better which means that more of the play books can be practiced with more repetitions in practice. This team has made big strides this year, and I couldn't say that last year even with the game at Iowa State last year. When they guys know the playbook, they don't have to think and they can just play football. On Saturday, they played football. They're getting this system and buying into it.

You are way over-the-top, clear out in left field, ridiculous. Keegan is a columnist (the title even says COLUMN!). His goal is to write opinionated, sometimes provocative articles that stimulate thought and conversation. You are completely out of place going on a rant like this and you owe Keegan an apology IMHO.

Sims is one of the best backs in the league. He's spent his career playing for some really bad offenses but we've all seen what he can do - over and over again. Sims will play in the NFL because he's efficient, he runs hard and he gets up field.

It's interesting that Keegan mentions Billy Sims. James actually runs a lot like Billy did - very elusive with minimal movement, he slips tackles without spending time juking tacklers. That kind of running moves the chains.

I'll openly admit that I'm too young to have seen Billy Sims play, but another person that James Sims reminds of is Emmitt Smith. Emmitt didn't necessarily have any one attribute that he was the best at during his playing days, except probably his vision and ability to avoid big hits. I see a lot of that in James as well since he isn't the biggest, fastest, most agile, or the strongest, but he does have a knack for finding making the right read and avoiding most of the really big hits.

What is with people today? It's a good article and Jesse does a great job too. Good grief!

Never knew about the Hawthorn Effect. I just knew that if you put Frankenstein in at QB, the team will play like they are wearing concrete boots, and if you put a playmaker in, well... track shoes.

Glad we put in the playmaker! Much more fun to watch. Loved watching the players behind the sideline reporter, all pumped up and screaming. Good for Dayne, for staying into the game, and supporting Cummings. He had to feel a little awkward watching the team get so enthusiastic after the switch.

Here are the statistics. 1. 5 of 10 for Cummings for 75 yards? <<< This is what made the difference? I asked Tom Keegan above what the effect was two years ago in Colorado.

Matt Tait, the KU Football beat writer said it before the NIU game that Sims was quicker and faster. I've read every single article and I pull my criticism of Tom Keegan from all of those other articles from people close to the team like Matt Tait, the absolute best that KUsports.com has. I owe Tom Keegan nothing. Tom Keegan explains why he went from a 55 - 17 prediction in OSU's favor to now all of sudden believing that Cummings ran the ball with Sim's number. Sims was the reason for the comeback, and the fact that KU's D allowed only 20 points to the nation's top defense, or it would have been just clean up duty for Cummings. That is the truth of the matter. Oklahoma State didn't prepare for Cummings. There isn't any film of them to watch in order to be.

Nobody played better than Sims on the offense last week when we were down by 33. Nobody played better than Sims on offense against NIU late in the game either. This is James Sims. This is the most mature player on the team. This is the man that is the heart and soul of KU's offense right now. Not Michael Cummings.

Cummings made one real good throw, but he only completed 50% of his passes. Crist made a several good throws early in the game, some that were just defended well, one Patterson stepped out of bounce, even though he caught it. That wasn't Crist's fault Patterson stepped out then back in and was the first to touch the ball, Crist made a really good throw on that play. So let's be real here. James Sims is a guy we can count on to play 4 quarters. He's the leader we missed the first 3 games.

^^ This. This is your argument, and one that I don't disagree with. You could have made this argument without going out of your way to jump all over Keegan (whether you feel he deserved it or not) and many more people would have listened to you. I'm not saying any of your opinions are wrong, but this argument above is the crux of what you are saying, but it got lost in the seemingly erratic bashing of Tom.

All I'm trying to say is, argue against Tom's point. No need to go after him personally. It will be a much more effective argument.

Something that was funny - in a really bad way. During the weather break in the Alabama-Missouri game, the commentators came on to talk about the Big 12 standings, in response to West Virginia, Tech, I think. But they put the Big 12 standings on the screen. Guess who was last on the list? No, not Kansas. Baylor. Kansas wasn't even on the list. Insult to injury.

When Sims said, "This is the first time we've gone out and played like a team in the 4th quarter", that could have been true for this season, but it wasn't for the past two seasons.

Remember Georgia Tech, Colorado? It didn't matter who the QB was, Sims was the best player in those games as well. I stuck through this the whole time and saw it all. I didn't leave when the going got tough. I watched every single game either on TV or online when I had to. I didn't leave at halftime. I stuck through all of it, as painful as it was to watch at times. James Sims is the heart and soul of the offense right now, and just wait until Pierson returns.

James Sims has been the heart and soul of the offense since he's been at KU.

Kale Pick is another leader out there and he puts his body on the line to catch passes. Taylor Cox is feeling the pressure because there are some fans that thought he was better than Sims, but he isn't. Cox is going to now have to accept what his role is, and that will probably be situational as the team continues to improve such as on 3rd and less than 1 or goal line plays from the 1 yard line to get 6 points or on max protect plays.

Sims is a better player than he was last year, even with the 3 game suspension and he had a good attitude about it all along.

This is another thing that I mean, that if you leave when the going gets tough and miss out watching these guys with pride, even when it's hard to be, you will defend a dishonest journalist. I won't do it. I stand on principle.

I will also add, those that believe what they read in this article that Tom Keegan wrote were saying that there was no improvement in this team over the year before.

Some even said yesterday there was no improvement in the kicking game, but there was. There was also better coverage on the 3 kickoffs. The players are getting more confidence.

Pattmon and Brown made plays defending passes. The defense held Oklahoma State to under 30 points for the first time in 22 games.

I was one of the few vocal ones defending the team's improvement every week this year, but that's because I stayed through all of the painful games the last two seasons, and yes I called for Gill to be fired, and now you're seeing why I called for Gill to be fired. If we had this kind of improvement in Gill's first season, we'd be 5-1 this year, and we had the K-State fans scared in the first half last week. We'd be wondering which bowl we're going to play in this year. These kids were better than they played the last two years and Turner Gill was not ready for this level.

I did have to learn from my mistake with Terry Allen. I stayed on his bandwagon for too long and I learned not to do that. Terry Allen came from about the same level Turner Gill came from.

We have a couple of guys that are in the NFL that were coached by both Mangino and Turner Gill. Darrell Stuckey and Chris Harris. Chris Harris is making an impact in Denver, too. A bigger impact than he made here, because he's being coached and wanted to be coached here under Turner but wasn't.

Now these players are being coached and its showing up on the field in every game this year: Win, lose, or draw.

jayhawkintx1973. I made some stupid comments after the K-State game, but when you get a shoe up your behind, like K-State administered, you say stupid things. I think in general you are right about improvement. Maybe we need a little more in the field goal kicking game.

You know, Kansas went 9-2 in the 1995 season and KU lost to Kansas State 41-7 and nobody said stupid things.

KU lost to Nebraska by about the same score, and nobody said stupid things.

We trailed by 7 in Manhattan at the half, that should have been enough to recognize big steps forward for these kids.

That 2nd intercept that Crist threw against K-State was a better pass than he had been making too. He didn't overshoot the guy by 10 yards. The K-State dove in front of our guy and intercepted it. That was a better throw by our guy. You can't play, "Damned him for not doing that, then say damned him for doing that". This isn't politics.

Oddly enough, the only part of the column that bugged me was Keegan's description of the Hawthorne Effect.

It is generally (like 98% of the time) used to refer to a situation where the behavior of the thing you're studying changes due to the presence of a researcher.

I think it's nice and creative for Keegan to bring this in as an example, but it just sounded weird to me when he kept referring back to it as The Hawthorne Effect when his example was one small element of a scenario where something larger was the takeaway.

I don't mind Keegan at all. He does his job well. In this instance, however, I don't think this a fully developed thought. Hawthorne effect. Who are the lights and who are the factory workers? If Michael Cummings was the lighting being turned up, who was the dimming of the lights that increased productivity again? No matter how I try to figure this out, I can't get there. Lights are inanimate having an effect on human beings. Football is human beings versus human beings. OSU's defense was spent in the 4th qtr. If they weren't spent, they certainly didn't have the same level of energy as the 1st qtr. That's the deal. Also, James Sims is not going to say "Michael Cummings had no impact on my performance. I did that all myself". I know that productivity went up when Cummings came in. That's not debatable. But correlation doesn't equal causation. It insults the game and makes a coach's salary seem rediculous if the solution is that simple.

All Simms is saying is with Cummings there are less defensive OSU players keying on him because now they have to respect Cummings ability to run. It's no shock in college football this works. Simms is just calling the truth.

Against some of those SEC teams, MiZ-ZERO is finding out the hard way that system doesnt work nearly as well. How ironic that what KU is building is exactly what MIZ-ZERO fans are hoping Drinkle can build with DopeGreenBeckham. Can you say PotHead? Funny thing is Weis actually would HAVE discipled DGB, we can be proud of that finally!!!! MIZ-ZERO fans so badly want the pro set but haven't recruited for it.

On the other hand our pro set is already on its way to looking very nice in the next year or so, with the ability to patch it up just about anytime we want with a dual threat QB who gets the team fired up.

And suddenly we have an incredible defense?

Is there really anything to complain about?

I am so proud of these Jayhawks. They only want to get better.

Now we have more options. I am still a huge fan of Dayne, but until he gets his accuracy up I'm sure we'll see a lot more of Cummings -- it's all about team.

Last point. Weis has already hit a couple MAJOR homeruns with recruiting beating out LSU and Alabama, KSU and MIZ-ZERO. Keep promoting the good and good things will come our way.

Personally I'm very proud of all the Jayhawks, Weis, Campo, Grunny, Hoss, Mitchell and our main man secondary coach who for some reason I'm blanking on. Plus Weis's son.

We have a lot to be proud of. We might get spanked next weekend but I can tell that we are officially building this team back up.

So very glad Weis put disciplin and principle ahead of winning a few early season games. It will greatly pay off in the next few years. Rock Chalk all.

I want to make one more point. I thank all the players that stayed the last two years and all of those that said yes to come to KU for this year. These kids stayed loyal to the University of Kansas and the fan base owes at least that much to the players. Don't leave the games early, even if there is a lightning delay. This team needed a noisy stadium yesterday, and I've seen that make a difference in a game.

When KU broke the streak against Kansas State in 2004, the stadium was Loud. It forced K-State to use their time outs and it even force them to call one when they didn't have one and get a delay of game penalty because of it. The team needed the fans yesterday. The team and the fans that stuck it out all day yesterday are the loyal ones. Don't leave early!

James Sims stepped up yesterday in a big way in a rallying call to this team. IT IS A TEAM SPORT!

OH MY GOD!! 1973 -The Hawks play probably the best football game we've seen in years - and yet, the most important thing to you, is to waste space and time with your rant about a newspaper columnist - A newspaper columnist - we're talking about A NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST!!!!!! ( Apologies to Allen I.)

The team HAD the fans yesterday! For only about 15,000 that were there in the 4th quarter, it was loud and the energy was there just like it was for that comeback win against Colorado. Had we gotten the ball back with no timeouts and about 1:30 on the clock inside our own 20, sure we would have had a very difficult time scoring a TD, but had it not been for that one bonehead play to rough the kicker we would have had our chance. More fans wouldn't have changed anything in that 4th quarter because OSU was trying to give us the game.

Yeah, because you know, a loud stadium makes it easier for them to change the play at the line of scrimmage right? I've experienced IN PERSON what I said. There were A TON more fans at the Colorado Game, too.

There is NO EXCUSE for the fans to LEAVE EARLY. The students do it to "Party". GROW UP. 18 year old is MANHOOD. EXERCISE IT.

I went directly after Tom Keegan. You other folks can come after me if you want, but that is on you. If you have a problem with what I say then you better come with a reason! None of this, "I like Tom Keegan", bull crap. I don't care if he's a nice guy.

The point is, James Sims always more effective late in the game when the other defense tires, and the other defense also felt some heat because it wasn't a 30 point spread in the 4th quarter after we scored that first TD and had 10 minutes left to play.

James Sims was better in 2010 against Colorado in the 4th quarter too. It wasn't because of QB change. It is highly UNETHICAL to make observations and then give credit to a QB that went 5 for 10 for 75 yards and a NEGATIVE 13 yards rushing from SACKS that everyone blamed on Crist, Michael Cummings statistics for the game. It's actually quite amusing to me how dishonest some of the fans are being, because it's what "they want to hear". That's IMMATURE. You know it and I know it.

Trolling? Do you get this is why some fans on here keep proving me right about the immaturity and the lack of loyalty on the part of some fans? Grow up. If you don't like what I say, then come with something of substance as to why you disagree with it, OR SHUT UP.

I'm standing by what I said. In football everyone knows that the defense tires late in games and
that is why teams at all levels are more successful running the ball late in games. James Sims
success was on the Offensive Line, the Wide outs blocking, and the other backs blocking. James Sims
as stated in the article picked up blitz after blitz all game long and protected both QBs. Michael
Cummings wasn't the spark. James Sims is.

If everyone of the players on this team emulated James Sim's work ethic, it is still possible for KU to win 4 more games this season. If the fans are dishonest with themselves, and keep being negative, shame on them.

The four games Kansas can win THIS SEASON:

Texas
Iowa State
Baylor
Texas Tech

It won't be because of Michael Cummings either. It will be because the players are starting to believe in one another and not blaming the others.

I will call out a couple of players that need to change their attitudes.

D.J. Beshears

Justin McKay, even though he can't play in games, mature up in practice.

Taylor Cox, relax man. You're good, but you're going to have to accept the role that helps this team compete or win games this year.

Those 3 players are talented individuals, but they have to play with the team. In McKay's defense, he got screwed by the NCAA by not being given a waiver to be able to play this season, but he has to work hard this year too to have an impact next year. Maybe they should put McKay on the scouting team and put him in the role of playing every opponents best Wide Receiver and maybe they're already doing that.

But for you, GROW UP. This is where adults have conversations. If you can't handle it, sign out.

Having said that, you're correct on one thing. KU can win 4 more games this year. A lot of you don't believe that, and I don't blame you. But the defense has given us all the opportunities we could possibly hope for. We squandered it.

Sims was a spark, but I'm sorry, brother, Michael Cummings was the reason we almost pulled this off. And the ironic part is, he really didn't do anything spectacular. As much as we don't want to admit it, Crist's lack of mobility is detrimental to this team. The college game has evolved, and you have to be a dual-threat to survive.

Is Cummings the second coming of Reesing? God, no. But you witnessed how a little mobility can make all the difference in college.

And I'm not sure where your McKay information is coming from, but let it go, man. We've got bigger fish to fry.

Cumming was 5/10 for 75 yards and had a NEGATIVE 13 yards on the ground because of a couple of sacks that the Crist critics said Cummings could avoid. He ran right into one of them.

I keep harping until the fans at KU, 1. BE HONEST WITH THEMSELVES and 2. LEARN HOW TO BE FOOTBALL FANS

I guess everyone wants to forget Cummings first Series, even after the good throw he made, A LOT OF QUARTERBACKS MAKE GOOD THROWS, but then went from 1st and 10 to 3rd and 24. He didn't show like he was much of a threat to escape.

By the way, I read every article since Weis has been here. That is why I know about Justin McKay. You might want to catch up.

I agree. Adults have conversations, that are one sided, and blast any other opinions by dismissing them as unloyal or idiotic. Obviously there aren't enough true fans out there because they aren't commenting on a journalist's article. I mean, they should be on here blasting Keegan! Seriously, what are they supposed to do? Respectfully not support his work by not reading it? Geeze, these guys do need to grow up! Adults only in here everyone! Rookies....

It's too early to say that Cummings is the answer. He did well against a team that wasn't ready for him, and that is something under any circumstance to get excited about. Who knows if making this change sooner would have been the better choice. Weis brought Crist in because he knew the offense. His knowledge and experience I think helped bring the rest of the team into the fold. The rest of the offense has benefited from that experience while the new offense has been implemented. Had Cummings been introduced too early in game situations with a team that didn't have a solid handle on the offense the outcome could have been different, even disastrous to a freshman quarterback. What should be taken away is that Cummings came into a situation where even though he didn't get the win he should have gained tremendous confidence. While he was sitting on the bench he was clearly paying attention and learning. While we all hoped for a better season I would gladly tolerate this year for future success and if Cummings performance is any indication we have a lot to look forward to.

jayhawkintx1973, give it a rest buddy!! You sound like an idiot. Blaming journalism and fans for losing football games is demonstrating your reaching and desperation. If you are such a super fan why aren't you at these games that you criticize others for leaving early? The whole "man up" and "courage" thing that you rant about makes no sense on here, especially with how hypocritical you are.

Message boards are for people's opinions, ideas, concerns, frustrations, venting, etc. Not for someone to be critical of the person writing the columns. Go create your own super happy positive fan page if people on here bother you so much...

Come on now. It takes a lot of courage to post comments after a journalist writes an article and blast it. That's the sign of a true fan! Everyone should Man Up, post negative comments about a journalist and start a conspiracy theory! I mean, what are you supposed to do if you don't like a journalist's writing? Not read it?! Hardly.....Man Up!